Freehold, N.J.-based Monmouth bought the Oakhaven/Parkway Village property, which is part of an eight-year payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement, in October 2009 for $14.6 million, shortly after it underwent a $1 million expansion.

The site is a 447,822-square-foot, single-story, Class A warehouse built in 1996. It is on 16.5 acres on the north side of where Tuggle intersects with Lamar Avenue. The Shelby County Assessor of Property’s 2011 appraisal is $13.9 milllion.

The city-county Industrial Development Board owns the property as part of the PILOT agreement and leases it to Monmouth, which subleases it to FedEx Global Supply Chain Services.

Former owner Harbin Enterprises GP in 2005 entered into the eight-year PILOT, which expires in June 2013. The project, according to PILOT documents, was expected to create 279 jobs with a median wage of $30,700. Harbin Enterprises in 2009 assigned the PILOT lease and option to purchase to Monmouth – that company’s first acquisition in the Memphis area.

FedEx has a lease agreement in place through 2019.

Source: The Daily News Online & Chandler Reports

– Daily News staff

Ohio Firm to Develop Olive Branch Ind. Park

Columbus, Ohio-based The Pizzuti Cos. has been selected to serve as development adviser for a proposed large-scale industrial park development in Olive Branch.

Blue Ocean Ventures LLC of Boca Raton, Fla., has engaged Pizzuti to develop the master plan for the park, initiate development due diligence and begin marketing efforts for the proposed 256.45-acre Willow Creek Park of Commerce.

As development adviser, Pizzuti will conduct a detailed site evaluation and develop an initial concept plan for the proposed development. Pizzuti will also work to advance entitlements to the site and develop preliminary project cost estimates.

The project will be managed by Pizzuti’s southeast regional office in Orlando, Fla. During the six-month due diligence period, Pizzuti and Blue Ocean Ventures will finalize negotiations of a joint venture agreement that would designate Pizzuti as the master developer of the project.

Pizzuti Senior Vice President Tom Harmer said in a release thorough due diligence is critically important in the early stages of project planning.

– Sarah Baker

Traffic Club Names New President

Mason Wilson, an attorney in the Memphis office of Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz PC, has been elected president of the Traffic Club of Memphis.

Wilson is a member of Baker Donelson’s transportation practice group and its 24-Hour Motor Carrier Emergency Response Team, a group of attorneys that provide rapid post-accident intervention and investigation. He has also been recognized by Mid-South Super Lawyers as a “Rising Star” in Transportation is a member of the Transportation Lawyers Association, the Defense Research Institute and the Association of Transportation Law Professionals.

Wilson has served on the board of directors of the Memphis Bar Association Young Lawyers Division and as the president of the Tennessee Bar Association Young Lawyers Division.

The Traffic Club of Memphis was founded in 1913 and focuses on the successful growth and evolution of the logistics industry in Memphis and throughout the world.

– Andy Meek

HopeWorks Named Emma 25 Honoree

Memphis-based HopeWorks Inc. has been named a 2011 Emma 25 honoree by the email marketing company Emma, headquartered in Nashville.

The Emma 25 is an annual list of 25 small, nonprofit organizations from across the United States.

The program, now in its eighth year, aims to provide organizations with 10 or fewer full-time employees with a lifetime of free email-marketing services that support the organization’s community outreach objectives.

The nomination process took place Oct. 27 through Nov. 21, and HopeWorks was selected from hundreds of nominees.

HopeWorks serves students through outreach programs that develop individual worth, encourage personal responsibility and promote the honor and value of work. Individuals are assisted in achievement of their chosen career through specialized classroom work and on-the-job training. Counseling is provided to assist in the development of emotional and spiritual maturity.

– Taylor Shoptaw

Obsidian Announces 180-Degree Winners

Obsidian Public Relations has announced the winners of its PR 180-Degree Project, a pro bono public relations initiative that provides two Mid-South nonprofits with six months of free PR to help the organizations achieve a 180-degree turn in publicity success.

The winners are Memphis Roller Derby and On Our Own of Memphis, an organization that provides positive social activities for young adults with developmental disabilities.

Leaders at Memphis-area nonprofits submitted e-mailed nominations. The public then voted on nominated organizations through Obsidian’s Facebook page. After tallying initial votes, the five organizations with the most votes moved on to a two-day runoff vote to determine the two winners.

More than 6,000 people participated in voting. On Our Own of Memphis received 663 likes and Memphis Roller Derby received 643 likes in the Facebook voting.

Obsidian says it will work with Memphis Roller Derby from January to June of 2012 and with On Our Own of Memphis from June through December.

– Aisling Maki

Blackburn Urges Gifts of Incandescent Bulbs

Tennessee U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn says she’s stuffing stockings with a bright present this year: the kind of light bulbs that are due to be phased out next year.

The Brentwood Republican had backed a provision to cut funding for an energy efficiency law scheduled to take effect Jan. 1, effectively ending the manufacture of 100-watt incandescent light bulbs.

Congress on Saturday, Dec. 17, passed a reprieve for the bulbs, delaying until October the impact of the 2007 light bulb law signed by President George W. Bush.

Blackburn says in a statement provided to The Tennessean that she will fight “so that people can keep their light bulbs.”

Trade Group: Shoppers Step Up Holiday Buying

Shoppers came out again to seriously shop last week, after taking a breather from a record spending spree over the Thanksgiving weekend.

Sales at stores opened at least a year rose 3.4 percent for the week ended Saturday, Dec. 17, compared with the previous week, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers-Goldman Sachs Weekly Chain Store Sales Index, released Tuesday, Dec. 20.

That follows two consecutive weekly declines, compared with the previous weeks, as shoppers took a break after a discount-fueled spending spree over the Thanksgiving weekend, the official start of the holiday shopping season.

Compared with a year ago, sales for the week rose 4.6 percent.

“Consumers were out in force this past week trying to complete their holiday shopping,” said Michael P. Niemira, chief economist at the International Council of Shopping Centers.

And there’s still more shopping to do. According to a poll of 1,000 shoppers conducted by ICSC and Goldman Sachs, shoppers on average completed 70 percent of their holiday buying as of Sunday, Dec. 18. That compares with 74 percent at the same time a year ago.

Niemira still expects revenue at stores opened at least a year for his monthly tally of retailers to be up anywhere from 3.5 percent to 4 percent, following a revised 2.8 percent increase in November. Overall, he’s predicting the measure to be up 3.5 percent for the combined November and December period. That’s considered a healthy increase but less than the 3.8 percent pace seen during the holiday 2010 period.